Nested mine roof supports

ABSTRACT

This invention is directed to a means for transporting a mine roof support set including a plurality of nested containers. Each container in the set has a progressively smaller cross-sectional dimension, or a tapered, frusto-conical shape, to allow the containers to be nested one within the other. The plurality of nested containers allows more efficient transportation of the mine roof support set to a mine site. The containers can be separated at the mine site and filled with a load-bearing material. The containers filled with the load-bearing material are then placed with their longitudinal axis between a mine roof and a mine floor.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This patent application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S.application Ser. No. 13/684,773 having a filing date of Nov. 26, 2012,entitled “NESTED MINE ROOF SUPPORTS”, which application claims priorityto U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/563,976 having a filing date ofNov. 28, 2011, entitled “NESTED MINE ROOF SUPPORTS”; and of co-pendingU.S. application Ser. No. 13/091,849 having a filing date of Apr. 21,2011, entitled “PUMPABLE SUPPORT WITH CLADDING”, which claims priorityto U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/326,847 and having a filing dateof Apr. 22, 2010, entitled “PUMPABLE SUPPORT WITH CLADDING”, all ofwhich applications are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to mine roof supports and, moreparticularly, to a set of mine roof supports designed to be nested.

2. Description of Related Art

Various roof support devices in the prior art have been designed andused to provide support to a mine roof. Deep mining results in removalof material from the interior of a mine, thereby leaving unsupportedvoids of various sizes within the mine. These unsupported voids areconducive to mine roof buckling and/or collapse. Thus, it has beendesirable to provide support to mine roofs to prevent, delay, or controlcollapse thereof

U.S. Pat. No. 5,308,196 to Frederick, herein incorporated by reference,discloses one commonly used prior art mine roof support. Specifically,the Frederick patent discloses a container that is placed between themine roof and the mine floor and filled with a load-bearing material.

It is not economical to transport such containers for a mine roofsupport from the manufacturing site to the mine because of their overallsize, which can be up to 15 feet in length and 72 inches in diameter,and weight. Because the containers are hollow, their weight is smallrelative to their volume. Therefore, the number of these containerswhich may be placed on a truck or railcar for transportation is limitedby the volume of space that they occupy and not by their weight.Transportation costs are usually computed based on the distance that aload travels and not how efficiently it uses the available capacity ofthe transportation vehicle. Thus, the inefficient utilization of theavailable transportation capacity due to the combination of the highvolume and low weight of the containers for the mine roof supportresults in high transportation costs relative to a load which moreefficiently utilizes the capacity of the transportation vehicle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a method oftransporting a mine roof support for efficient use of the capacity of atransportation vehicle. The method includes assembling a plurality ofhollow individual containers, by placing individual open top containerstogether such that each individual container fits inside of an adjacentcontainer; placing the plurality of individual containers on a vehiclefor transportation from a manufacturing site of the containers to anunderground mine site; transporting the plurality of containers via thetransportation vehicle to the underground mine site; and separating theplurality of containers at the mine site to provide individual hollowcontainers.

Also disclosed is a transportable mine roof support. The transportablemine roof support comprising: a container member having a bottom portionand a side portion upwardly extending from the bottom portion; a supportmember movably received within the container member; and a bore definedwithin the support member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a container used inthe mine roof support set according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a mine roof supportset according to the present invention showing the mine roof support setin the nested condition;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the mine roof support set shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of one embodiment of the mine roofsupport set shown in FIG. 2 taken along line 4-4; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of one embodiment of two un-nestedcontainers filled with a load-bearing material according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an extensible mine roof supportaccording to a third embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the mine roof support of FIG. 8 in apartially installed state with respect to a mine.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the mine roof support of FIG. 8 in afully installed state with respect to the mine.

FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view of one embodiment of anextensible mine roof support.

FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view of one embodiment of anextensible mine roof support.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention includes a mine roof support set comprising aplurality of containers having a longitudinal axis and adapted to beplaced in a void in a mine, with the longitudinal axis extending betweenthe mine roof and the mine floor, and filled with a load-bearingmaterial.

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of such a container 10. The container has abottom end 12, a top end 13, and a sidewall 14 extending from the bottomend 12 to the top end 13. The bottom end 12 and/or the top end 13 may besubstantially open or may be covered by an end cap (not shown). Thesidewall 14 defines a cavity 16.

In use, the container is placed with its longitudinal axis 18 extendingbetween a mine roof 20 and a mine floor 22 such that the bottom end 12of the container 10 is in contact with the mine floor 22. The cavity 16is then filled with a load-bearing material 24. In one embodiment of theinvention, the load-bearing material 24 is particulate and flowablewhich provides efficient filling of the cavity 16. By using particulateand flowable materials, a maximum amount of space is filled in thecavity 16, unlike if larger rocks or objects were to be used. Exemplaryand non-limiting load-bearing materials 24 include pea gravel, sand,coal from a mine entry, mine slack (i.e., wash plant refuse), foamedcement (FOAMCRETE), concrete, polyurethane, and crushed mine tailings(e.g., discarded excavated mine material). Footing material (not shown),such as wood timber or other material, may be placed between either orboth ends 12, 13 of the container 10 and the respective mine roof 20and/or floor 22 to account for differences between the height of thecontainer 10 and the height of the void in the mine Alternatively, a capor a base (not shown) having a thickness may be used in the manner of ashim to assure that the container 10 contacts both the roof and thefloor of the mine The cap or base may be a rubber ring or of any othersuitable shape and/or material that effectively fills a gap between themine roof 20 or floor 22 and the ends 12, 13 of the container 10. Othershims may include pumpable containment structures (e.g., bags) or apumpable telescoping structure such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.6,394,707, incorporated herein by reference.

Although the container 10 shown in FIG. 1 is cylindrical, the containerof the present invention may have any cross-sectional shape including,but not limited to, circular, oval, square, rectangular, and polygonal.It may be made from any suitable material including, but not limited to,metal. It may include features to allow it to be compressible or improveits load-bearing capability when placed in the mine void or improve itsstiffness when being transported including, but not limited to, ribbing.The ribbing of the container 10 may include, but is not limited to, acontinuous helical rib, a plurality of discontinuous ribs or a pluralityof spaced apart ribs. Alternatively, as shown in FIGS. 2-5, thecontainer sidewall 14 may instead have a substantially smooth surface.By substantially smooth surface, it is meant that the sidewall does notinclude any ribs, corrugation, or the like, although certain dents andother imperfections may be present which do not affect operation of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of one embodiment of a mine roof supportset 200 according to the present invention. As can be seen in FIG. 2,containers 10 a-10 d are nested one within another for ease of handling,such as in transportation to a mine site. The outside dimension (for thecylinders of set 200, 10 a being the outside diameter) of each containeris progressively smaller than the next. As shown in FIGS. 2-4, container10 a has the largest outside diameter, with containers 10 b, 10 c and 10d having progressively smaller outside diameters. Four containers 10 areshown in FIGS. 2-4, but this is not meant to be limiting. The quantityof containers 10 nested in a set 200 may be varied depending on theunderground conditions and related logistics, including the roof controlplan.

In one embodiment, the containers 10 all possess the same or similarsidewall 14 thickness. The outer dimension of each subsequently smallercontainer 10 is determined at least in part by the inside diameter ofthe larger container 10 into which it is received, as well as thesidewall thickness. The difference in the cross-sectional dimensionbetween each container 10 and the next smaller container 10 and, thus,the gap between the inner surface of the container 10 and outer surfaceof the next smaller container 10 is minimized. The cross-sectionaldimension of the container 10 is one factor that determines theload-bearing capability of the mine support. Therefore, when it isdesired that all of the mine supports in the set have load-bearingcapability within a specific engineering tolerance, the difference incross-sectional dimension between each container 10 and the next smallercontainer 10 may be minimized to allow the maximum number of containers10 having a cross-sectional dimension providing load-bearing capabilitywithin the engineering tolerance to be nested. To accomplish this, thecross-sectional dimension of each successively smaller container 10 isreduced by the minimum amount necessary to allow it to be inserted intoand removed from the container 10 having the next larger cross-sectionaldimension, without binding or getting stuck. In one embodiment, a firstcontainer 10 is sized to be received within a second container 10 as africtional fit. By frictional fit, it is meant that the respectivesurfaces of the first and second containers 10 may abut each otherduring insertion into or removal of the first container into the secondcontainer yet without binding therebetween or otherwise becoming stuck.To the extent that one or more of the smaller diameter containers 10 ofthe set 200 provides reduced load-bearing capabilities compared to othercontainers in the set, the roof support plan incorporating suchcontainers may be adjusted as necessary. For example, the smallerdiameter containers 10 may be spaced slightly closer together or closerto other such containers than larger diameter containers 10. Thedifferences in the cross-sectional dimension between one container 10and the next smaller container 10 may be of any magnitude and may beuniform or vary throughout the set. The lengths of the containers 10 mayalso be constant or vary from container to container. The containers mayhave the same cross-sectional shape or the shape of the cross-sectionmay vary from container to container as long as the containers may stillbe nested one inside the other. In general, when nested, the cavity 16of each container 10 is empty. In one embodiment, the cavity 16 isfilled with the load-bearing material once the containers are separatedat a mine site.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the mine roof support set 200 includes theplurality of containers 10 nested one within another, with eachcontainer 10 having a progressively smaller cross-sectional dimensionthan the container 10 in which it is nested. While no gap is shownbetween the inside of one container (e.g., 10 a) and the outside of aprogressively smaller container (e.g., 10 b), there is at least some gaptherebetween so that container 10 b may be fitted into container 10 aand then removed therefrom without becoming stuck. In FIGS. 2 and 4, thecontainers 10 a-10 d are shown as having progressively reduced heights,such that container 10 a receives all of containers 10 b-10 d andcontainer 10 b receives all of containers 10 c and 10 d. This is notmeant to be limiting. For example, the containers 10 may all have thesame height or the containers 10 may have decreasing outer dimensionstaken in the direction from the outermost container 10 to the innermostcontainer 10 or some other arrangement, including random heights,provided that the containers 10 nest in each other.

FIG. 5 shows perspective views of one embodiment of containers 10 a, 10b separated from each other and filled with load-bearing material 24 a,24 b. Two containers are shown and described here (10 a, 10 b) forsimplicity. However, it is contemplated that each nested set 200 couldinclude up to ten containers 10. The mine roof support set 200 accordingto the present invention includes nested containers 10 fortransportation. This allows for more efficient use of the capacity of atransportation vehicle. By nesting the containers 10 inside of eachother, more space on a transportation vehicle is available than if eachindividual container 10 were to be transported separately. By providingadditional space on the transportation vehicle the user is able totransport more items to the mine site with fewer trips and at a lowercost. After the nested container set 200 has been unloaded at the minesite, the container set 200 is transported into the mine and thecontainers (e.g., 10 a, 10 b) are separated from one another. Eachcontainer 10 a, 10 b is then filled with load-bearing material 24 a, 24b, which may be the same or different material from each other. Theload-bearing material 24 a, 24 b may be flowable, thereby providing anefficient manner in which to fill the containers 10. By usingparticulate and flowable material, the user can deliver the material 24a, 24 b into the top of each container 10 a, 10 b with minimal effort.After the containers 10 a, 10 b have been filled, each container 10 a,10 b is positioned with its longitudinal axis 36 a, 36 b between themine roof and the mine floor. The containers 10 may be shimmed above andbelow ends 12 and 13 as needed to fit within the mine opening.

In one desired embodiment, the support member 100 defines an enclosurehaving a body 322, with a top portion 13, and a bottom portion 12disposed at respective distal ends of the body 72. Desirably, thesupport member 100 is substantially hollow to receive a filler 328therein. Therefore, it is to be understood, that the support member 100may include suitable openings or ports (not shown) for introducing thefiller 328 into the support member 100. Alternatively, the supportmember 100 may be partially solid or entirely solid. A partially solidsupport member 100 may, therefore, accommodate less filler 328 than asubstantially hollow support member 100. It is to be understood that theinternal structure of the support member 100 may assume variousconfigurations. Exemplary and non-limiting filler 328 includes foamedcement (such as FOAMCRETE.RTM.), concrete, polyurethane, or crushed minetailings (i.e., discarded excavated mine material). In the desirableembodiment as shown in FIG. 6, the support member 100 includes a bore 50defined therein. The bore 50 includes a first opening 52 defined along aside portion 14 of the support member 100 and a second opening 56defined along the bottom portion 12 of the support member 100. As shownin FIGS. 7 and 8, the bore 50 is adapted to receive a material 24therethrough. For example, the bore 50 may be a plastic pipe that isapproximately ½ inch to one inch in diameter. The bore 50 may be routedthrough the filler 328 in any suitable configuration. Alternatively, thebore 50 may be situated within the side portion 14 of the containermember 10 c.

Desirably, the shape of the support member 100 substantially correspondsto the shape of the container member 10 c. For example, both thecontainer member 10 c and the support member 100 are substantiallycylindrical in shape, however, it is to be understood that the supportmember 100 may be embodied as other shapes. For example, with respect toa cylindrical shape, the top and bottom portions 13, 12 may besubstantially circular bases. Desirably, an 8×8 foot piece of 16 gaugecold roll sheet steel may be curved, such that two opposing ends thereofare brought together to form the body 72 of the support member 100.Thereafter, the top and bottom portions 13, 12 are attached to therespective distal ends of the body 72. It is to be understood that thesupport member 100 may be of unitary construction or may be a multiplepiece construction. Desirably, the support member 100 is constructed ofrelatively rigid or other suitable material including, but not limitedto, steel. The top portion 13 of the support member 100 may be contouredor be adapted to correspond to a specific grade or grade variations of amine roof.

The height of the support member 100 may be greater than the containermember 10 c. For example, a desirable height of the support member 100may be eight feet, as compared to the three feet height of the containermember 10 c. Thus, when the support member 100 is inserted into thecontainer member 10 c, the support member 100 extends beyond the opening70 of the container member 10 c. In the exemplary use of an 8×8 footpiece of sheet steel, the body 72 of the support member 100 isapproximately thirty inches in diameter. The diameter of the supportmember 100, or width along the widest portion thereof, is less than thediameter or width of the container member 10 c. Thus, in the case of athirty-inch diameter body 72, the diameter of the container member 10 cmay be anything greater than thirty inches. Desirably, the variation indiameters differs only to the extent that there exists a minimalsufficient clearance between the side portion 14 a and the side portion14 c.

An operation of the mine roof support 100 in accordance with a desirableembodiment of the present invention will now be discussed. Withcontinuing reference to FIG. 8, the mine roof support 100 is used in amine 60 having a mine roof 62 and a mine floor 64, as shown in FIGS. 7and 8. In the desirable embodiment, the container member 10 c ispositioned on the mine floor 64 below the mine roof 62. Thereafter, thesupport member 100 is inserted into the container member 10 c. A hose 46or suitable equivalent may be attached to the first opening 52 of thebore 50. A pressurized machine (not shown) may be connected to the hose46 and operated to introduce the material 24 into the bore 50. It is tobe understood that any suitable machine configured to entrain solidsinto an air cavity may be utilized. For example, an air stream may bedelivered into a container of the material 24 with an airstream exitingthe container having the material 24 entrained therein. The material 24is delivered through the bore 50 such that the material is deposited viathe second opening 56 into the container member 10 c. Consequently, asmore material 24 is deposited into the container member 10 c, thesupport member 100 is increasingly moved closer to the mine roof 62.Specifically, the support member 100 is upwardly displaced within thecontainer member 10 c by the material 24 pushing against the bottomportion 12. An exemplary amount of material 24 may be at least two feet.However, it is to be understood that the raised height of the supportmember 100 may vary based upon the distance of the void between the topportion 13 of the support member 100 and the mine roof 62. Other factorsdetermining the raised height include, but are not limited to, theheight of the container member 10 c, the type of material 24, and theamount of weight to be supported by the mine roof support 100. It hasbeen determined that the support member 100 may be raised with a forcecorresponding to as little as 1.6 PSI and that raising thereof may beaccomplished in approximately one second. Once the top portion 13 of thesupport member 100 contacts the mine roof 62, the weight of the mineroof 62 is distributed to and supported on the mine roof support 100. Inthe case of an uneven mine roof 62, wedges (not shown) may be introducedbetween the top portion 13 and the mine roof 62 to obtain asubstantially even contact surface. However, it is to be understood,that the wedges are not intended to support the weight of the mine roof62, as is the case in the prior art. After installation of the mine roofsupport 100, the hose 46 may be removed and the first opening 52 of thebore 50 may be sealed.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the supportmember 100 may be raised substantially with air alone so that thematerial 24 is introduced into the container member 10 c only after thesupport member 100 has been raised. It is also envisioned that thepresent invention may be modified to operate as a primarily hydraulic orpneumatic telescoping mine roof support. Accordingly, the material 24may be substituted by water or air, respectively.

In some applications, it may be beneficial to provide the underside ofthe bottom portion 12 (facing the material 24) with patterning or othersurface texturing. Surface texturing on the underside of the bottomportion 12 can enhance the filling and spreading of the material 24entrained in air as the container member 10 c is filled. The surfacetexturing may be formed in the material of the bottom portion 12 (in thesteel) or may be applied as a separate layer, such as a layer ofpatterned or roughened foamed concrete.

Referring next to FIG. 9, in another embodiment a plurality of nestedcontainers 10 a, 10 b and 10 c may be nested and filled with a pumpableload-bearing material or filler 24. Container 10 a is filled to the opentop end 13, and disposed on container 10 b, which is also filled to topend 13. Container 10 b is disposed within container 10 c, which ispartially filled with load-bearing material 24, e.g., to a predeterminedheight h. Height h is adjusted by injecting or pouring load-bearingmaterial into container 10 c, thus allowing the stacked containers 10 a,10 b and 10 c to form a customized roof support member 100. As disclosedabove with respect to FIGS. 6-8, the support member 100 may includesuitable openings or ports (not shown) for introducing the filler 24into the support member 100. Alternatively, the support member 100 maybe partially solid or entirely solid. A partially solid support member100 may, therefore, accommodate less filler 24 than a substantiallyhollow support member 100. It is to be understood that the internalstructure of the support member 100 may assume various configurations.Containers 10 a-10 c may have a frusto-conical shape with slightlytapered outer walls to facilitate nesting for transportation and toallow a margin or gap around the interior of the nested containers.

In one aspect, a support member may be constructed on site by pumpingflowable load-bearing material into nested containers 10 a-10 c insequence, beginning with the top-most container 10 a, then one or moreintermediate containers 10 b, if any, and finally the bottom-mostcontainer 10 c. Preferably the bottom container 10 c will be used as theheight adjustment container, and may be partially empty, while theremaining containers are filled substantially to the respective top end.Thus the roof support when constructed in on site may be tailored inheight to suit variable roof conditions and heights in the undergroundmine. This method of height adjustment of the roof support member 100allows the supports to be fit precisely to the desired height forloading the support. The support may be adjusted to fit exactly from themine bottom to the mine roof, or alternately, may be adjusted to withina close distance from the mine roof to allow for placement of a yieldring or similar device for loading the roof support. Wedge locks 15 maybe provided around the periphery of each of the lower level nestedcontainers 10 a-10 c, to maintain a minimum vertical spacing betweennested containers and to provide openings 70 to allow fill conduits forinsertion of flowable material 24. Wedge locks 15 permit upward movementof containers 10 when material 24 is introduced into a lower levelcontainer 10. Wedge locks 15 may also laterally secure the containers 10a-10 c relative to one another, and reduce or eliminate horizontalmovement of the nested containers 10 a-10 c. For example, as shown inFIG. 9, one or more wedge locks 15 may be placed in the open top end 13of the bottom container 10 c, in the space between the intermediatecontainer 10 b and the bottom container 10 c. Likewise, one or morewedge locks 15 may be placed in the open top end 13 of the intermediatecontainer 10 b, in the space between the top-most container 10 a and theintermediate container 10 b.

While the example illustrated in FIG. 9 shows three containers 10 a-10c, more or less containers 10 may be used depending on the height of theindividual containers 10 and the roof height, which tends to vary inunderground mines. For example, a support may be comprised of twocontainers 10 in lower mine seams, with one of the pair of containersserving as the height adjustment container that is filled after theother container is full. Also, it should be noted that with theexception of the top-most container 10, the height adjustment container10 may be one or more of the remaining containers in the stack, and isnot necessarily the bottom-most container.

In order to facilitate the flow of pumpable material 24 into thecontainers, each container may be provided with conduits, ports, tubes25, pipes, openings or other facilities for conducting flowable materialinto the adjacent containers, such as those described above with respectto FIGS. 6-8. For clarity the conduit and related interconnections arenot shown in FIG. 9.

Referring to FIG. 10, in another embodiment, nested containers 10 may beused to construct or assemble a custom-height support member 100. Thebottom-most container 10 c is inverted, such that the open top end 13 ispositioned adjacent to the mine floor 22. A pipe segment 30 ispositioned between the bottom-most container 10 c and the top-mostcontainer 10 a, with the bottom end 12 of each container 10 a, 10 cpositioned adjacent to and partially within the interior opening of pipesegment 30. The pipe segment 30 includes, for example, a straight pieceof pipe cut to a desired length, or any other conduit material that iscapable of being cut to a length that may provide a desired height 21 ofthe top-most container 10 a. After positioning the pipe segment 30between the top-most container 10 a and the bottom-most container 10 c,the pipe segment 30 is at least partially filled with the flowableload-bearing material 24 to raise the top-most container 10 a to thedesired height 21. The desired height 21 may be a height that allowspositioning the top end 13 of the top-most container 10 a in directcontact with the mine roof, or alternatively, positioning the top end 13adjacent to the mine roof with a desired spacing to allow for placementof yield rings or other material for loading the support 100 when themine roof settles onto the support member 100. In one embodiment, thetop-most container 10 a and the bottom-most container 10 c contain solidfill, which is not shown in FIG. 10 for clarity.

Although the invention has been described in detail for the purpose ofillustration based on what is currently considered to be the mostpractical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that suchdetail is solely for that purpose and that the invention is not limitedto the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to covermodifications and equivalent arrangements that are within the spirit andscope of this specification.

1. A method of transporting a mine roof support for efficient use of thecapacity of a transportation vehicle comprising: assembling a pluralityof hollow individual containers, by placing individual open topcontainers together such that each individual container fits inside ofan adjacent container; placing the plurality of individual containers ona vehicle for transportation from a manufacturing site of the containersto an underground mine site; transporting the plurality of containersvia the transportation vehicle to the underground mine site; andseparating the plurality of containers at the mine site to provideindividual hollow containers.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising filling the hollow containers with a load-bearing material atthe mine site.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising positioningthe filled individual containers between the mine roof and the minefloor.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the containers are nestable onewithin another prior to filling the containers with the load-bearingmaterial.
 5. The method of claim 4, further comprising: cutting astraight piece of pipe to a predetermined length; positioning thestraight piece of pipe between two of the individual hollow containers,the individual hollow containers including at least a top-most containerand a bottom-most container; and filling the straight piece of pipe withthe load-bearing material to raise the top-most container to apredetermined height below a mine roof.
 6. A transportable mine roofsupport comprising: a container member having a bottom portion and aside portion upwardly extending from the bottom portion; a supportmember movably received within the container member; and a bore definedwithin the support member.
 7. The transportable mine roof support ofclaim 5, wherein the container member is substantially cylindrical inshape with a tapering outer wall to permit ease of nesting the containermember.
 8. The transportable mine roof support of claim 6, wherein thesupport member defines an enclosure receiving a filler therein.
 9. Thetransportable mine roof support of claim 7, wherein the filler is foamcement, concrete, or crushed mine tailings.
 10. The transportable mineroof support of claim 5, wherein the bore includes: a first openingdefined along a side portion of the support member; and a second openingdefined along a bottom portion of the support member.
 11. Thetransportable mine roof support of claim 9, wherein the bore is sized toreceive material therethrough.
 12. The transportable mine roof supportof claim 10, wherein the material is sand, polyurethane foam, or peagravel.
 13. The transportable mine roof support according to claim 11,wherein at least two containers of the plurality of containers arefilled in series by flowing the load-bearing material into saidcontainers, beginning with a top-most container and progressing insequence to the bottom-most container.